


christmas miracles

by lovemarket



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Christmas Tree, Domestic Fluff, Engagement, Gift Giving, Living Together, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:20:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21912814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovemarket/pseuds/lovemarket
Summary: Renjun and Yukhei planned to decorate the apartment right after all their Friendsgiving dinners but caught up in school work and now there’s two weeks until Christmas and their humble abode still isn’t looking like the winter/holiday wonderland it should. To them, this just simply won't do.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	1. christmas tree

**Author's Note:**

> 00ers & 99ers r out of college, chensung r college juniors so u can do that math :]
> 
> and a free [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4XQJBiNxRvcE2o7OVUYJsj?si=TJPSvAcPSJa7octRUCnWBw)

Renjun doesn’t hear Yukhei enter the apartment, doesn’t hear him creep into the living room. He yelps at the feeling of freezing cold hands on the back of his neck and jumps up. 

He breathes out the biggest sigh of relief when he turns around to see his boyfriend and can’t help but let a small smile form on his face when the older is laughing behind the couch. 

“Not funny,” Renjun rolls his eyes, sitting back down. Yukhei chuckles as he takes a seat next to Renjun. It’s been snowing for a while and the cold is evident as the older’s nose is slightly red and there’s a very thin sheet of snow on his hair. “I thought it was pretty funny,” He smiles as Renjun brushes the snow off his head. 

“There was no parking close to the complex so the car is down the street.” Yukhei continues, rubbing his hands together to make them warmer. Renjun frowns at the confession. “You should’ve told me, I could’ve made tea for you.”

Yukhei smiles with a shrug. “You would’ve drank most of the cup anyway.” He points out and Renjun can’t even argue because it’s true. Yukhei stands and stretches. “I’ll take a shower and then we can decorate the tree?” He suggests and Renjun nods. They’d planned to do it right after all their Friendsgiving dinners but caught up in school work and now there’s two weeks until Christmas and their apartment isn’t looking like the winter/holiday wonderland it should. 

While Yukhei is in the shower, Renjun tries to finish an application before the last day to send it in passes for an internship at the lab. After he sends it in, he sneaks into the kitchen to make hot chocolate and when Yukhei comes back into the common area, lugging bins of tree decorations near the coffee table, he excitedly eyes the mugs in Renjun’s hands.

“You’re the best,” Yukhei comments as Renjun pushes a mug of hot chocolate into his hands once he’s finished moving things. “Be careful, it’s hot.” Yukhei kisses Renjun’s cheek and blows at the top of the mug in an attempt to cool it down before he takes a sip.

Renjun watches him, his own mug in his hands hiding the smile that forms on his lips when Yukhei sticks his tongue out. “I burned my tongue,” he frowns but it quickly turns into a smile. “I told you it was hot, baby,” He chuckles, setting the mug down on the coffee table. Renjun sits in front of the bins and opens them, unwrapping glass ornaments and handing them to Yukhei. 

They work with this system for a while until they switch jobs when the tree is halfway done.

“Hey, do you remember this?” Yukhei hands Renjun a polaroid with a ribbon taped onto the back. On the bottom in Sharpie writing says:  **_CHRISTMAS 2017_ ** . Their entire friend group is the picture, somehow. Mark, Jaemin and Donghyuck are sitting on the floor while Jeno, Renjun and Yukhei stand, showing off identical bracelets. They gifted each other friendship bracelets and they all still had them, even buying new ones for friends that were brought into the group at a later time with welcoming arms (re: Chenle and Jisung).

Renjun smiles at the memory. “I blew so much pocket money for that damned bracelet,” Renjun remembers, shaking his head. “The least you can do is wear it, babe.” Yukhei teases, wriggling his own wrist to show off the silver. Renjun isn’t really a jewelry person, doesn’t normally wear bracelets unless he has to be dressed up for something. Now he has a reason, as it’ll just get in the way when he works at the lab.

Renjun just scoffs in response and makes sure to put the faux ornament in the center of the tree for when they invite their friends over to open gifts. It’s been a tradition ever since Renjun and Yukhei got their apartment, as they were the first of the group to move off campus in sophomore year of college.

About an hour later the clock reads one in the morning and the first bin is completely empty. The second has a few ornaments left. Renjun takes the last one from Yukhei and he can’t help but be annoyed because the only open place for this specific ornament is out of reach.

He turns around to see Yukhei lounging on the floor, hands supporting his upper body. Yukhei has the biggest shit-eating grin and it makes Renjun want to grab a chair  _ just  _ to spite the fact that Yukhei knows he’s going to ask for help putting the star on the top of the tree. “No.” Renjun turns around again and the declaration causes Yukhei to burst into laughter.

“C’mere, babe,” Renjun hears Yukhei get up but he refuses to ask for help. Not if he’s going to ask for that. “No!” Renjun protests, stepping away from Yukhei when he gets closer.

“Just let me help you!” He laughs. His giggles are contagious and Renjun is acting so childishly he can’t help but laugh as he runs away, standing behind the couch. “Not if you keep making fun of me!” 

“I promise! I won’t, p-promise.” Yukhei crosses his fingers over his heart and speaks between chuckles and snorts. Renjun narrows his eyes at him and walks over. “We can still go to Target and get that step stool, you know,” Yukhei comments and Renjun groans. “Xuxi!”

“I-I’m sorry! I had to!” Yukhei doubled over in laughter and Renjun  _ has _ to laugh with. “You promised!” He whines, but the smile on his face shows he’s not seriously mad. 

“Are you finished?” Renjun asks, a hand on his hip when Yukhei’s laughter finally subsides. He nods, “Yes, I swear,” He smirks. “I won’t make any comments, even though you know they come from a place of love.”

Renjun rolls his eyes at that. “Yeah, yeah,” He mutters. Yukhei wraps his arms around his waist, hoisting Renjun in the air so he can put the star at the top of the tree.

Renjun pats Yukhei’s hand to signal that he’s done and he expects to be put back on the  _ floor _ where he belongs but Yukhei turns his body around. Instinctively, Renjun’s arms find solace around Yukhei’s neck and he crosses his ankles around Yukhei’s waist.

“You can put me down now,” He whispers, their proximity suddenly feeling like talking in a normal voice would ruin something. Yukhei brushes their noses together. “But I like you here, in my arms.” He pouts and Renjun swears his heart skips a beat. They’ve been together for five years and their relationship still feels like the first week. Stomach butterflies, chaste kisses, linked pinkies and blushing cheeks.

Renjun drops his head into Yukhei’s neck, leaving a tiny kiss there. “You’re so cheesy,” He laughs. How can he still not get embarrassed when Yukhei is still saying things like that well into their relationship? Renjun is a sucker for cheesy, romantic shit and Yukhei has known that since they first met.

“Look at me~” Yukhei whines and Renjun lets his head back up. Renjun brushes the stray hairs out of Yukhei’s face and his boyfriend has the most lovestruck expression on his face that makes Renjun’s heart swell with love and fondness. He’s really found his perfect guy.

“I love you,” Renjun murmurs against Yukhei’s lips.

“Well, guess what? I love you  _ more _ .” Yukhei kisses him again and Renjun laughs. “We’re not about to fight over this, bǎo bèi.” 

“I could fight you all day over it,” Yukhei points out and trust Renjun, he  _ knows  _ Yukhei could say those three words until he loses his voice. “I know you would, baby. C’mon, we have to clean all this up.”

Yukhei lets him down and groans as he stretches. “We could also clean tomorrow morning?” He suggests.

Renjun gives him a look. “You and I both know neither of us are going to want to do this tomorrow morning.” “But I also know neither of us want to do it  _ now _ .” Yukhei counters and Renjun sighs. What is he going to do with him? “You’re such a little kid, you know that, Xuxi?”

Yukhei laughs, knowing he’s just won their mini-argument. “You tell me a lot, babe. Now let’s go to sleep.”


	2. presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's christmas!

Renjun and Yukhei plan to spend Christmas Eve with Renjun’s family and Christmas day with Yukhei’s family. Due to procrastination on both of their parts, the two now have three days to wrap presents for both families, friends _and_ themselves but they (re: Renjun) still feel like procrastinating.

Renjun groans and whines every time Yukhei even moves the tiniest muscle in bed. “We have to wrap these presents!” He retorts, grabbing Renjun’s ankle and dragging him down the bed. “No, it’s cold outside the blanket!”

Yukhei scoffs, “The heat is on.” And so, he tries to compromise, “We can go straight to sleep after, no cleaning up until tomorrow.” They’d already had the most laziest day and it’s making Yukhei lose his mind. They can’t show up to each other’s families houses without wrapped presents and Yukhei will _not_ allow their friends to come if they’re not ready yet!

Renjun stops struggling and sits up. “Fine,” he lets himself get pulled out of bed by Yukhei and they gather all the presents, already labelled with what’s going to who. Renjun makes labels with the blank stickers they brought while Yukhei wraps the gifts and they work with this system until their hands ache.

They’ve gotten through more than half the presents, not including the ones for each other. Neither of them ever really say what they want, don’t necessarily need anything so Renjun didn’t buy too much for Yukhei nor did Yukhei buy much for Renjun. Wrapping presents for each other usually works like this: one of them falls asleep before the other or it happens while one is at work.

“I’m gonna make some tea,” Renjun announces with a yawn and stands after stretching from his criss-crossed position in front of the coffee table. Yukhei nods at the declaration. When Renjun is halfway to the kitchen he shouts (not too loud though, because _neighbors_ ) for Renjun to bring the cookies they made earlier in the day when he returns. Renjun doesn’t respond so Yukhei isn’t sure if he heard due to his tired state but he won’t mind if he doesn’t bring them. It’s not good for either of their health to be eating cookies at almost three in the morning, anyway.

Renjun comes back about fifteen minutes later looking even more tired than when he left with a plate of cookies that he places in front of Yukhei at the coffee table. He doesn’t even have a mug with him. “Bǎo bèi, where’s your tea?” Yukhei asks and Renjun sighs. “I knew I forgot something.”

Yukhei chuckles but he’s a bit worried. Even though there’s three days until Christmas, he’s still going into the lab working late hours. When he gets calls from Renjun saying he’ll be home late, Yukhei gets upset. Isn’t that what the undergrad students are for? They’re supposed to be doing all the hard work!

When Renjun starts to get up to go back into the kitchen, Yukhei stops him. “You should just go to sleep, baby.” At the suggestion, Renjun frowns. “But we’re not even close to being finished?”

“We can continue tomorrow, it’s okay! _You_ need to go to sleep,” Yukhei hopes his tone is stern enough so that Renjun doesn’t try to argue with him (which is more often than not). Renjun is still frowning, looking between the blank labels and unwrapped presents. “They’ll be here in the morning, Renjun. Promise.”

“I’ve been sleeping all day though? I don’t want you to sit out here and do this all by yourself. What kind of son doesn’t wrap his own parents gifts?” Renjun whines, crossing his arms over his chest. “Okay, but if you fall asleep here, don’t get mad,” Yukhei shrugs. It’s too early for them to be arguing and neither of them are awake enough to make convincing arguments either. However, Yukhei does go into the kitchen to give Renjun his tea.

_Green tea_ , Yukhei recognizes the smell. He knows that this one is supposed to help you wake up because Renjun would drink it every morning before his eight am microbiology lab. He shakes his head and he returns to the living room, Renjun is curled up on the couch fast asleep.

Yukhei sighs because Renjun could’ve been in bed but no, he had to be stubborn and fall asleep uncomfortably on the couch. So, as the good boyfriend he is, he scoops Renjun into his arms, trying his best not to wake him but the effort proves to be of no avail.

“‘M awake,” Renjun mumbles. “Xuxi, we have to finish wrapping.” “It’s okay, I’ll do it.” Yukhei pulls the covers up and he knows the warmth of their duvet is a much better place to be than on the couch. “Really, I can help--” “Renjun.” Yukhei interrupts and this time he knows his voice was stern enough to avoid another bickering contest.

“Alright. But you better not fall asleep in there too, otherwise you’re just a hypocrite.” Renjun turns over and Yukhei shakes his head with a small laugh. He closes the door and finishes wrapping the presents that Renjun already made labels for. He’d save the rest for tomorrow when they could buy some more. However, Yukhei did save one blank label when Renjun went to make his tea and reserved it for the perfect gift.

He wrote Renjun’s name in his best penmanship and retrieved the present from what Yukhei thought was the best hiding spot since Renjun hasn’t found it yet (unless he’s just really good at keeping it a secret).

Yukhei told Mark first (best friend privilege) about the present and he’d given Yukhei the best idea on how to wrap it. The plan was equal parts hilarious and suspenseful. Yukhei knew the effort Renjun was going to spend opening it would be worth the expression on his face when he finally got to the bottom.

Honestly, Yukhei wasn’t sure how he kept the secret for so long. He’d been hoarding boxes of all sizes, small and thin, super large and spacious just for this. Renjun was getting annoyed with the amount of boxes Yukhei was storing but the older promised it would all come to fruition soon. And now his plan would be revealed in five days time. It seemed so close yet so far and Yukhei was anxious. He texted Mark about it every now and then, he and Jaemin being the only ones in their friend group who knew (Yukhei didn’t want to tell too many people otherwise the secret might get spilled).

Speaking of, he gets a text from the older.

> **mark [04:23] -- .PNG attached**
> 
> **mark [04:23] -- wrapping presents w nana & thought of u!**
> 
> **mark [04:23] -- how’s u know what coming along? ;)**
> 
> **yukhei [04:25] -- perfectly wrapped and waiting to be opened!**
> 
> **mark [04:25] -- wahh u guys r stealing all our groups firsts…**
> 
> **yukhei [04:30] -- thx 4 keeping the secret :)**
> 
> **mark [04:32] -- the cats not outta the bag yet, hei**
> 
> **mark [04:33] -- see u soon! get some sleep, the big day is coming!!**
> 
> **yukhei [04:36] -- .PNG attached**

Yukhei sent his best _happy puppy_ picture and called it a night, cleaning the mess from the past three hours and moving Renjun’s present behind the tree. It was still visible but Yukhei knew Renjun wouldn’t mess with it until the 27th, when the rest of their friends would be coming by to open presents together.

He doesn’t mean to wake Renjun up when he gets into bed but it happens anyway. “Took you long enough.” Renjun mutters, immediately clinging to Yukhei when he settles under the blanket.

“How would you know how long I took? You were sleeping,” Yukhei points out, bringing him closer. Renjun snuggles his head in the crook of Yukhei’s neck, his hair tickling the older’s chin. “It was hard to sleep without you. And cold.” Renjun yawns, his breath hitting Yukhei’s collarbone.

Yukhei is usually the softer one in the relationship so to hear rare, cheesy lines from Renjun makes his heart overflow. Yukhei loves him and he can’t wait to be able to call Renjun his fiancé. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Five days later, the two find their closest friends gathered in their living room. It didn’t take long for presents to be opened, as there weren’t many to give out since no one had really asked for much.

Yukhei almost has a heart attack, thinking Renjun had ruined his plan when the younger gifted him a ring. “Just thought you could use another one,” Renjun smiles after Yukhei adds it to the many he’s already got. 

Mark and Jaemin nudge Yukhei’s sides relentlessly when the final gift is handed to Renjun, a box almost half the size of Renjun himself. He turns to Yukhei with a face that reads _what the hell did you do_ but Yukhei can only smile and egg him on to open the present.

His heart beat increases as Renjun gets closer to the real deal, the boxes continue to get smaller and smaller, and so does Renjun’s patience, as expected. “Why would you put so many boxes inside more boxes? Is this what you were collecting all our Amazon packaging for?” He groans, tearing another strip of wrapping paper off the second to last box wearily. “At this point, I almost don’t even want the present.” Renjun whines and Jaemin just laughs.

“Trust me, you’re gonna want it in a few more seconds,” Jaemin retorts. Renjun rolls his eyes and opens the last box. Yukhei feels like his heart is about to burst out of his chest. Chenle is looking over Renjun’s shoulder, already having caught on. He’s glancing between the box, Renjun and Yukhei with a shocked smile on his face. Everyone else, including Renjun, is still clueless.

There’s a tiny horizontal card inside is supposed to be opened _after_ Renjun opens the box but the envelope seal is broken and the surprise is ruined a little early. 

Renjun reads the card and there’s a long silence that makes Yukhei kind of nervous. On any other given day, Renjun is normally very good at masking his emotions around a group of people but today he lets his guard down and Yukhei notices. The way his eyebrows furrow and he worries his bottom lip as his slightly shaking hands open the box with a yellow ribbon around it. 

“Aren’t you going to tell us what the card says?” Donghyuck asks, though with the collective gasp that engulfed the room when Renjun opened the box already shows that everyone who wasn’t in on the secret or caught on before then knows what’s about to happen now.

Renjun’s eyes are shiny and he’s frowning but this is a good frown, Yukhei knows because he’s seen it so often throughout their time spent together, platonically and romantically. It’s the kind of frown that takes over when Renjun is about to cry though Yukhei can only hope that these are tears of joy. It seems that Renjun has lost his voice; he can only hand the card over to Yukhei and guffaw when the older kneels down in front of him.

Yukhei inhales, “Huang Renjun, will you marry me?” 

The room goes silent, as if you could hear a pin drop and it adds to Yukhei’s nerves. 

The room goes silent, as if you could hear a pin drop and it adds to Yukhei’s nerves. 

“Yes! Yes--” Renjun throws his arms around Yukhei, almost causing _both_ of them to topple over.

“I’d hate to interrupt this obvious violation of PDA,” Chenle exclaims, grimacing at the way Renjun keeps pressing kisses onto Yukhei’s face. “But, who’s going to be your best man?”

“And your groomsmen?” Jeno teases. Of course it’s going to be all of them, plus their brothers, maybe a few extended family members. They vocalize these decisions, ones already thought about privately unbeknownst to the other. They’re lucky their choices match up almost perfectly.

“Wow, I can't wait to organize your entire wedding!” Jaemin excitedly exclaims. “You better come to my bakery to order the cake.” He threatens them with a glare that no one in the room takes too seriously. There’s a hint of mirth in Jaemin’s eyes that show he’s not completely serious either but honestly, there’s no other bakery the two of them would want touching their wedding cake.

“We’ve got a lot of time to make decisions about all of these things, you know.” Renjun points out, smiling at Yukhei. “Let’s not rush it all.”

“Yeah,” Yukhei nods. “I don’t know about you guys but opening all of these has made me super hungry so can we _please_ make breakfast?”

A chorus of agreements sounds from everyone and the shuffle out of the common area, Renjun and Yukhei staying behind as their friends take over in the kitchen for a moment. “Yukhei, how much did you spend on this?” Renjun asks, his mind still not wrapped around the fact that he’s been proposed to.

Yukhei gives him a quick peck on the lips. “Don’t worry about it, bǎo bèi.” Renjun just shakes his head, a shy smile turning up the corners of his mouth. “What am I going to do with you, Xuxi?”

“Love me forever and ever?” He teases, leaning in to kiss Renjun again. “Hurry up or we’re making pancakes and not leaving enough for the both of you!” Jisung pokes his head out from around the corner. Renjun shoos him away, promising they’ll be present within the next few seconds.

Renjun cups Yukhei’s face and the older instinctively relaxes into his touch. “I love you so much, Wong Yukhei.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [the ring rj gifted to yh](https://www.zales.com/mens-oval-garnet-diamond-accent-rope-collar-band-sterling-silver/p/V-20073520)   
>  [engagement ring](https://www.tiffany.com/jewelry/rings/tiffany-classic-wedding-band-ring-GRP10535/)
> 
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/lcvemarket)

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/lcvemarket)


End file.
